Monday, April 25, 2011

been a little busy...



i know he's thinking..."here's another fine mess she's gotten me into"!  but really, what can one expect from an 1898 house built by miners?  i can't brag on this guy enough.  no matter what challenges he finds when tearing into a house, he always figures out a way to fix it, to make it right.  this is our second rehab this year, and after a total of 6 weeks of hard labor, we're very happy with the final outcome.  the corner shower that isn't quite visible is setting where the gaping hole was in the previous picture.  although the great old cast iron, claw footed tub was removed, it will be used in the next renovation.  there just simply wasn't enough room for it.


and then there was the kitchen...


all the cabinets had to come out, refrigerator moved to different location and door to laundry room was moved over 4" to allow for 24" deep cabinets to be reinstalled.  although i originally wanted to keep the cabinet bases as they were original to the house, the shiny, 1980 attempt at remodeled cabinet doors really messed up the plan.  and since terry and i couldn't agree on the rehab idea i was coming up with...well he won out and new, unfinished cabinets were installed.  i like to use unfinished cabinets as it allows for lots of creative paint ideas.  the new ones were painted a light yellow/orange and rubbed out with walnut stain/varnish.

"i think the fridge would be better over here"...

"and while you're at it, why not chip off the plaster to expose the brick"...

jacking up the chimney...

what the picture doesn't show is the hydraulic jack underneath the 4x4 post that is holding the chimney up while terry cuts out the support, moves it over against the wall and puts in another 2x12 for the chimney to set on.  my job was to keep my eyes glued to the bricks incase they started to fall...and to take pictures of the whole craziness.  but all was successful and the fridge fits perfectly in it's new little cubby hole.

still need some red paint...


found this great bar at old creamery antiques in middlebury and added an enamel top from an old hoosier cabinet that had fallen apart.  it's going to get painted red, just didn't have enough time for all the little details.  i might have had time, had i not mismeasured how tall it was when giving instructions on where to put the receptacle in the wall.  when we placed the bar against the wall, it hit right in the middle of it...so it had to be cut down 2".

with not a minute to spare, we finished the house, moved everything over from our first rehab house (the one we just traded for a building downtown) threw our clothes in the van and headed for indiana.  now we have 2 months to pack everything here, load up and make the final move to co.  i wonder what it will be like to live in just one place?  maybe i'll be able to find my shoes...